Dumbed Down

North American society is wearing me out. I am tired of it. I have had enough.

We are being dumbed down as a society. We are being lulled into a senseless and meaningless existence. We are told what to buy and when to buy and where to buy. Big-Business and Corporate North America tell us that we have to live a 9-5, 5-day week and on top of that, they want our money too.

Face it, we are giving up our personal power for STUFF. Consume, consume, consume; buy, buy, buy; get bigger, get better, get MORE!

The old saying "knowledge is power" is the personal power I am referring to. We are giving up knowledge on a daily basis. Yes, more people have formal education in this day and age, but what do people do with that education? They go out and get a JOB and they do that job until they are tired of it and make a career change or they do it until they retire...if they can afford to retire, that is.

There is nothing wrong with having a good career, but people need to work to live and not live to work. Living to work is what our capitalist society wants us to do. Big-Business and Corporations want people to work and work and work and work so the CEOs can golf all day long or fly to Japan for fresh sushi.

Why is it that single parents that work three labour-intensive, mind-numbing jobs can barely feed their kids while paper-pushers reap all the benefits? Maybe some people worked very hard to get to the top, but are they truly entitled to have so much more than anyone else?

By having these careers and working 40 plus hours in the average week, we are giving up knowledge (power) that our ancestors built their lives upon. The abilities to grow and prepare their own food, make their own clothes, fix or even create their own tools. People had a huge amount of personal power by knowing how to do these simple things. They didn't have to go to a store and buy them, they made everything they owned.

What do we know how to do today? Yes, there are some people that know how to cook or bake or sew or woodwork, but these are becoming specialized skills in our society and not things that everyone knows how to do. Advertising and marketing practically tells us what to think and do today, "Don't think for yourself, just buy this and fit in with everyone else and make sure you get the latest model every year!" We are selling our personal power for I-Pods and Smart Phones and SUVs.

I am not saying that technology is bad. I love computers and cars and science and medical advancements, but the problem is that our society is badly, tremendously, horribly out of balance.

And the solution is undesirable for most people, because the solution is to live with less, consume less and to work less at a career and more in your home.

This is my personal quest. This article is my opinion and I am going to live my words. I know it will not be easy, but this is the lifestyle I want to live. I know that this is a long-term goal. I do not believe that it is possible to throw off the mantle of Capitalism in a few months or a year. It will take planning and hard work to actually have less, yet still live a full life.

Realistically, I hope to be virtually free of Capitalistic and government influence by the time I am 70 years old (33 years in the future). I am hoping to be living off of food that I grow and power and heat from my own sources. I will be driving electric vehicles and/or producing my own fuel. Need I mention using a vehicle less in general? Biking and walking will become daily efforts.

My personal power will be immense.

It all begins with small steps and I have already taken a few. I know how to bake my own bread and goods. I have taken on a vegetarian diet since I am willing to grow my own food, but I am not willing to murder it. I am learning to sew my own clothing.

Unfortunately, I am still caught in the Capitalist system. I have debts to pay and quite a large sum of them. However, once they are down to a reasonable level, I will begin a 4-day work week and hopefully be able to decrease this over the years until retirement age.

North American society is wearing me out. I am tired of it. I have had enough. I refuse to be dumbed down and mind numbed by it anymore. I am taking back my personal power.